Middlesex University Students' Union has been shortlisted for the NUS Campaign of the Year Award.

MDXSU is one of just five students' unions from across the country to be shortlisted for the award, with the nomination acknowledging our committed and effective campaigning over the past year, and particularly the success of the #RefugeesWelcome campaign.

The #RefugeesWelcome campaign was launched by MDXSU Vice President Sayed Alkadiri in July 2015, with the aim of raising awareness of the refugee crisis, helping to address the UK’s poor record of taking in Syrian refugees and convincing Barnet Council to resettle fifty vulnerable Syrian refugees locally.

Following months of lobbying by MDXSU, Middlesex students and the local community, Councillor Richard Cornellius - leader of Barnet Council - accepted the request to rehome Syrian refugees at the Barnet Day of Action event on Sunday 27th September.

The policy was then passed by a council vote in October 2015, making Barnet the first Conservative council in the country to agree to resettle Syrian refugees.

#RefugeesWelcome was a true community campaign, bringing together local residents, faith centres, schools and community organisations, with MDX students supporting the campaign by attending a local day of action, signing national government petitions, making personal pledges to help the refugees settle into the local community, emailing their MPs and sharing the campaign on social media.

The campaign continued following the council's agreement to accept fifty refugees, with work taking place at a community level to ensure that the incoming refugees were able to access health, education and job opportunities, and MDXSU lobbying the government to increase refugee resettlement nationwide.

The winner of Campaign of the Year will be announced at the awards ceremony on Wednesday 6th July, alongside the results for ten other NUS awards. The full shortlist for all awards can be viewed online here.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those who got involved in this campaign. You should be extremely proud of your role in helping to resettle fifty Syrian refugees in our local community and in raising awareness of the refugee crisis. This spot on the shortlist is all thanks to you!